From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Central European states and historic lands at times associated with the region

Central Europe is the region lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe. The term and widespread interest in the region itself came back into fashion[1] after the end of the Cold War, which, along with the Iron Curtain, had divided Europe politically into East and West, splitting Central Europe in half.

The concept of Central Europe, and that of a common identity, is somewhat elusive.[2][3][4] However, scholars assert that a distinct "Central European culture, as controversial and debated the notion may be, exists."[5][6] It is based on "similarities emanating from historical, social and cultural characteristics",[5][7] and it is identified as having been "one of the world's richest sources of creative talent" between the 17th and 20th centuries.[8] A UN paper employs 8 factors "to define a cultural region called 'Central Europe'".[9]Cross Currents: A Yearbook of Central European Culture characterized "Central Europe as an abandoned West or a place where East and West collide".[10]

As of the 2000's, Central Europe is going through a phase of "strategic awakening".[11]

States

The understanding of the concept of Central Europe is an ongoing source of controversy,[12] though the Visegrád Group constituents are generally included as de facto C.E. countries.[1] The region is usually considered to include:

Current views on Central Europe

Rather than a physical entity, Central Europe is a concept of shared history which contrasts with that of the surrounding regions. The issue how to name and define the Central European region is subject to debates. Very often, the definition depends on nationality and historical perspective of its author.

A concept putting an accent on the links with the West, especially from the 19th century and the grand period of liberation and formation of Nation-states – this idea is represented by in the South-Eastern states, which prefer the enlarged concept of the “East Centre” expressing their links with the Western culture

According to Ronald Tiersky, the 1991 summit held in Visegrád, Hungary and attended by the Polish, Hungarian and Czechoslovak presidents was hailed at the time as a major breakthrough in Central European cooperation, but the Visegrád Group became a vehicle for coordinating Central Europe's road to the European Union, while development of closer ties within the region languished.[17]

Peter J. Katzenstein described Central Europe as a way station in a Europeanization process that marks the transformation process of the Visegrád Group countries in different, though comparable ways.[18] According to him in Germany's contemporary public discourse "Central European identity" refers to the civilizational divide between Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy.[18] He says there's no precise, uncontestable way to decide whether the Baltic states, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Romania, and Bulgaria are parts of Central Europe or not.[19]

Multinational empires were a characteristic of Central Europe.[22]Hungary and Poland, small and medium-size states today, were empires during their early histories.[22] The historical Kingdom of Hungary was until 1918 three times larger than Hungary is today,[22] while Poland was the largest state in Europe in the sixteenth century.[22] Both these kingdoms housed a wide variety of different peoples.[22]

as a mode of self-perception, despite the debated nature of the concept Central Europeans generally agree on which peoples are to be excluded from this club: for example Serbs, Bulgarians, Romanians and Russians.[23]

He also thinks that Central Europe is a dynamical historical concept, not a static spatial one. For example, Lithuania, a fair share of Belarus and western Ukraine are in Eastern Europe today, but 250 years ago they were in Poland.[22]
Johnson's study on Central Europe received acclaim and positive reviews[24][25] in the scientific community.

The German Encyclopaedia Meyers grosses Taschenlexikon (English: Meyers Big Pocket Encyclopedia), 1999, defines Central Europe as the central part of Europe with no precise borders to the East and West. The term is mostly used to denominate the territory between the Schelde to Vistula and from the Danube to the Moravian Gate. Usually the countries considered to be Central European are Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, in the broader sense Romania too, occasionally also the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg.

Central Europe according to Peter J. Katzenstein (1997) The Visegrád Group countries are referred to as Central Europe in the book[18] countries for which there's no precise, uncontestable way to decide whether they are parts of Central Europe or not[19]

Map of Central Europe, according to Lonnie R. Johnson (1996)[29] Countries usually considered Central European (citing the World Bank and the OECD) Easternmost Western European countries considered to be Central European only in the broader sense of the term.

The Central European Countries according to Meyers grosses Taschenlexikon (1999): Countries usually considered Central European Central European countries in the broader sense of the term Countries occasionally considered to be Central European

Central European states, according to the French Encyclopaedia Larousse(2009)[30]

Before World War I

A view of Central Europe dating from the time before the First World War (1902):[32] Central European countries and regions: Germany and Austria-Hungary (without Bosnia-Herzegovina and Dalmatia) Regions located at the transition between Central Europe and Eastern Europe: Romania

The concept of Central Europe was already known at the beginning of the 19th century,[33] but its real life began in the 20th century and immediately became an object of intensive interest. However, the very first concept mixed science, politics and economy – it was strictly connected with intensively growing German economy and its aspirations to dominate a part of European continent called Mitteleuropa. The German term denoting Central Europe was so fashionable that other languages started referring to it when indicating territories from Rhine to Vistula, or even Dnieper, and from the Baltic Sea to the Balkans.[34] An example of that-time vision of Central Europe may be seen in J. Partsch’s book of 1903.[35]

On 21 January 1904 - Mitteleuropäischer Wirtschaftsverein (Central European Economic Association) was established in Berlin with economic integration of Germany and Austria–Hungary (with eventual extension to Switzerland, Belgium and the Netherlands) as its main aim. Another time, the term Central Europe became connected to the German plans of political, economic and cultural domination. The “bible” of the concept was Friedrich Naumann’s book Mitteleuropa[36] in which he called for an economic federation to be established after the war. Naumann's idea was that the federation would have at its center Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire but would also include all European nations outside the Anglo-French alliance, on one side, and Russia, on the other.[37] The concept failed after the German defeat in the World War I and the dissolution of Austria–Hungary. The revival of the idea may be observed during the Hitler era.

Interwar period

Interwar Central Europe, according to the French geographer Emmanuel de Martonne (1927)

According to Emmanuel de Martonne, in 1927 the Central European countries included: Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Romania. Italy and Yugoslavia are not considered by the author to be Central European because they are located mostly outside Central Europe. The author use both Human and Physical Geographical features to define Central Europe.[38]

The interwar period (1918–1939) brought new geopolitical system and economic and political problems, and the concept of Central Europe took a different character. The centre of interest was moved to its eastern part – the countries that have reappeared on the map of Europe: Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia. Central Europe ceased to be the area of German aspiration to lead or dominate and became a territory of various integration movements aiming at resolving political, economic and national problems of "new" states, being a way to face German and Soviet pressures. However, the conflict of interests was too big and neither Little Entente nor Międzymorze ideas succeeded.

The interwar period brought new elements to the concept of Central Europe. Before WWI, it embraced mainly German states (Germany, Austria), non-German territories being an area of intended German penetration and domination - German leadership position was to be the natural result of economic dominance.[39] After the war, the Eastern part of Central Europe was placed at the centre of the concept. At that time the scientists took interest in the idea: the International Historical Congress in Brussels in 1923 was committed to Central Europe, and the 1933 Congress continued the discussions.

Magda Adam, in the Versailles System and Central Europe, published in the Oxford journals: "Today we know that the bane of Central Europe was the Little Entente, military alliance of Czechoslovakia, Romania and Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later Yugoslavia), created in 1921 not for Central Europe's cooperation nor to fight German expansion, but in a wrong perceived notion that a completely powerless Hungary must be kept down".[40]

The avant-garde movements of Central Europe were an essential part of modernism’s evolution, reaching its peak throughout the continent during the 1920s. The Sourcebook of Central European avantgards (Los Angeles County Museum of Art) contains primary documents of the avant-gardes in Austria, Czechoslovakia, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Yugoslavia from 1910 to 1930.[41] The manifestos and magazines of Western European radical art circles are well known to Western scholars and are being taught at primary universities of their kind in the western world.

Central Europe behind the Iron Curtain

Following World War II, large parts of Europe that were culturally and historically Western became part of the Eastern bloc. Consequently, the English term Central Europe was increasingly applied only to the westernmost former Warsaw Pact countries (East Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary) to specify them as communist states that were culturally tied to Western Europe.[42] This usage continued after the end of the Warsaw Pact when these countries started to undergo transition.

The post-WWII period brought blocking of the research on Central Europe in the Eastern Block countries, as its every result proved the dissimilarity of Central Europe, which was inconsistent with the Soviet doctrine. On the other hand, the topic became popular in Western Europe and the United States, much of the research being carried out by immigrants from Central Europe.[43] At the end of the communism, publicists and historians in Central Europe, especially anti-communist opposition, came back to their research.[44]

According to Mayers Enzyklopädisches Lexikon[45], Central Europe is a part of Europe composed by the surface of the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Poland, Switzerland, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Romania, northern marginal regions of Italy and Yugoslavia (northern states- Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia) as well as northeastern France. Sometimes, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg are not regarded as Central European.

Mitteleuropa, the German term

Map of German plans for a new political order in Central and Eastern Europe after the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk of February 9th, 1918, Treaty of Brest-Litovsk of March 3rd, 1918 and Treaty of Bucharest of May 7th, 1918. Germany and its allies Part of Poland and Armenia to be annexed by Germany/Turkey Semiautonomous states under full German control - planned annexation New countries - economically and administratively dependent of Germany Ukraine - under German economic control Planned Tatar Republic - area of German colonization Countries politically and economically tied with Germany Planned Transcaucasian Republic - politically tied with Germany Semiautonomous Cossack states inside Russia - German sphere of influence

The German term Mitteleuropa (or alternatively its literal translation into English, Middle Europe[47]) is an ambiguous German concept.[47] It is sometimes used in English to refer to an area somewhat larger than most conceptions of 'Central Europe'; it refers to territories under German(ic) cultural hegemony until World War I (encompassing Austria–Hungary and Germany in their pre-war formations. According to Fritz FischerMitteleuropa was a scheme in the era of the Reich of 1871-1918 by which the old imperial elites had allegedly sought to build a system of German economic, military and political domination from the northern seas to the Near East and from the Low Countries through the steppes of Russia to the Caucasus.[48] Professor Fritz Epstein argued the threat of a Slavic "Drang nach Westen" (Western expansion) had been a major factor in the emergence of a Mitteleuropa ideology before the Reich of 1871 ever came into being.[49]

In Germany the connotation is also sometimes linked to the pre-war German provinces east of the Oder-Neisse line which were lost as the result of the World War II, annexed by People's Republic of Poland and the Soviet Union, and ethnically cleansed of Germans by communist authorities and forces (see expulsion of Germans after World War II) due to Yalta Conference and Potsdam Conference decisions. In this view Bohemia and Moravia, with its dual Western Slavic and Germanic heritage, combined with the historic element of the "Sudetenland", is a core region illustrating the problems and features of the entire Central European region.
The term Mitteleuropa conjures up negative historical associations, although the Germans have not played an exclusively negative role in the region.[23] Most Central European Jews embraced the enlightened German humanistic culture of the 19th century.[50] German-speaking Jews from turn-of-the-centuryVienna, Budapest and Prague became representatives of what many consider to be Central European culture at its best, though the Nazi version of "Mitteleuropa" destroyed this kind of culture.[50] Some German speakers are sensitive enough to the pejorative connotations of the term Mitteleuropa to use Zentraleuropa instead.[47]Adolf Hitler was obsessed by the idea of Lebensraum and many non-German Central Europeans identify Mitteleuropa with the instruments he employed to acquire it: war, deportations, genocide.[51]

We, representing together more than fifty million people
constituting a chain of nations lying between the Baltic, the
Adriatic and the Black Seas, comprising Czecho-Slovaks, Poles, Jugoslavs, Ukrainians, Uhro-Rusyns, Lithuanians, Roumanians and Italian Irredentists, Unredeemed Greeks, Albanians, Zionists, and Armenians, wholly or partly subject to
alien domination (...) We have suffered destruction of our cities,
violation of our homes and lands, and have maintained our ideals
only by stealth, and in spite of the tyranny of our oppressors. We
have been deprived of proper representation and fair trial. We have
been denied the right of free speech, and the right freely to
assemble and petition for the redress of our grievances. We have
been denied free and friendly intercourse with our sister states,
and our men have been impressed in war against their brothers and
friends of kindred races.

If you ask me what is my native country, I answer: I was born
in Fiume, grew up in Belgrade, Budapest, Pressburg, Vienna and Munich, and I have a Hungarian
passport; but I have no fatherland. I am a very typical mix of old
Austria-Hungary: at once Magyar, Croatian, German and Czech; my
country is Hungary, my mother tongue is German.

Ödön von Horváth
quoted in Kort, Michael (2001). The handbook of the
new Eastern Europe. Twenty-First Century Books.

From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the
Continent. Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient
states of Central and Eastern Europe. Warsaw, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade, Bucharest and Sofia, all these famous cities
and the populations around them lie in what I must call the Soviet
sphere, and all are subject in one form or another, not only to
Soviet influence but to a very high and, in many cases, increasing
measure of control from Moscow.

Winston
Churchill, speaking in 1946 at Westminster College, Fulton,
Missouri, United States

(...) There is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe and there
never will be under a Ford administration. (...) I don't believe
(...) that the Yugoslavians consider themselves dominated by the
Soviet Union. I don't believe that the Rumanians consider
themselves dominated by the Soviet Union. I don't believe that the
Poles consider themselves dominated by the Soviet Union.

[Central Europe is] a piece of the Latin West which has fallen
under Russian domination [and] which lies geographically in the
center, culturally in the West and politically in the East.

Milan
Kundera in The Stolen West or The Tragedy of Central
Europe (1983), quoted in Hyde-Price, Adrian G. V.
(1996). The international politics of East Central Europe.
Manchester University Press ND.

I assume there is such a thing as Central Europe, even though
many people deny its existence, beginning with statesmen and
journalists who persist in calling it "Eastern Europe" and ending
with my friend Joseph Brodsky, who prefers to reserve
for it the name of "Western Asia." In these decades of the 20th
century, Central Europe seems to exist only in the minds of some of
its intellectuals.

In the work of Havel and Konrád there is an interesting
semantic division of labour. Both authors use the terms "Eastern
Europe" or "East European" when the context is neutral or negative;
when they write "Central" or "East Central," the statement is
invariably positive, affirmative, or downright sentimental.

Every Central European family has its own stormy history in
which family catastrophes and national catastrophes are mingled.
History is more than erudition here, it is the inner meaning of
actions, a validating tradition, a largely unconscious norm and
parameter for conduct today.

Who to look to better than Central European countries that 20 years
ago acted with such courage and resolve, and over the last 20
years, have made such sustainable progress?— Joe Biden

In the late nineteenth century, the concept of a
German-dominated Mitteleuropa was
launched to coincide with the political sphere of the Central Powers. In the inter-war
years, a domain called "East Central Europe" was invented to
coincide with the newly independent "successor states" – from
Finland and Poland to Yugoslavia. This was revived again after 1945
as a convenient label for the similar set of nominally independent
countries which were caught inside the Soviet bloc. By that time
the main division, between a "Western Europe" dominated by NATO and
the EEC and an "Eastern Europe" dominated by Soviet communism
seemed to be set in stone. In the 1980s a group of writers led by
the Czech novelist, Milan Kundera, launched a new version of
"Central Europe", to break down the reigning barriers. Here was yet
another configuration, another true "kingdom of the spirit".

For all the participants in this fascinating debate, "Central
Europe" was defined, not by geography, but by values. "Central
Europe" was, in György Konrád's words, a Weltanschauung,
not a Staatsangehörigkeit (i.e., a way of looking at the
world rather than a question of citizenship); for Leszek Kołakowski it was a
"culturally connected area"; for Stefan Kaszyński a "state of
mind"; for Czesław Miłosz "a way of
thinking".

Hyde-Price, Adrian G. V. (1996). The
International Politics of East Central Europe. Manchester
University Press ND.

No one writing about Transcarpathia can
resist retelling the region's favourite anecdote: A visitor,
encountering one of the oldest local inhabitants, asks about his
life. The reply: "I was born in Austria-Hungary, I went to school in
Czechoslovakia, I did my army service
in Horthy's Hungary, followed by a spell
in prison in the USSR. Now I am ending my days in
independent Ukraine." The visitor expresses surprise at how much of
the world the old man has seen. "But no!," he responds, "I've never
left this village!"

Now, you're thinking of Europe as Germany and France. I don't.
I think that's old Europe. If you look at the entire NATO Europe
today, the center of gravity is shifting to the east. And there are
a lot of new members.

Concerning, after all, the candidate countries, (...) I
honestly think that they have behaved with a certain lightness.
Because entering the European Union still requires a minimum of
consideration for others, a minimum of consultation. If, on the
first difficult subject, you begin to express your point of view
independently of any consultation with the body which you
incidentally want to join, then it is not very responsible
behavior. In any case, it is not well brought-up behavior. So I
believe that they missed a good opportunity to shut up.

Jacques
Chirac at a press conference in Brussels on 17 February 2003,
following a European Council emergency summit on Iraq

Is it only an accident that the four most enduring popular culture
villains, Frankenstein, Count Dracula..., the Morlak and the
Golem... are connected somehow to Eastern European regions?— László Kürti

There are several kinds of monsters in western popular culture
today: werewolves, vampires, morlaks, the blood-countess and
other creatures of the underworld. (...) Vampirism, and (...)
monstrosity has been fundamentally intertwined with Eastern Europe
(...) [I]s it only an accident that the four most enduring popular
culture villains, Frankenstein, Count
Dracula (Nosferatu),
the Morlak and the Golem had emerged in Europe
during modernity (...)? That all four creatures are connected
somehow to Eastern European regions?

In Eastern Europe, countries still struggle to fulfill the
promise of a strong democracy, or a vibrant market economy. Who to
look to better than you? Who to look to better than Central
European countries that 20 years ago acted with such courage and
resolve, and over the last 20 years, have made such sustainable
progress? You can help guide Moldova, Georgia, Ukraine along the
path of lasting stability and prosperity. It's your time to lead.
Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus can benefit from your personal
experiences.

Joe Biden speaking
on 22 October 2009 at the Central University Library in Bucharest,
Romania

From Wikitravel

Contents

Central Europe is a region in the heart of Europe. It includes the
German-speaking countries, four former Warsaw Pact member states
that have joined the European Union, and Slovenia, a former
Yugoslav republic, now also a member of the EU. Only Switzerland
and tiny Liechtenstein are not EU member states but share close
economic and cultural ties with the region.

Cities

Central Europe has some of the oldest and best preserved cities
on the continent. Below is a list of nine of the
most notable:

Berlin - The capital of
reunited Germany since 1990,
it was divided by force for 45 years during the Cold War. It has
emerged as a international cultural center and an area of rapid
development since the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Budapest - The capital
of Hungary has a wealth of
grand architecture, culture and its famous thermal baths, as well
as one of the oldest metro systems in the world.

Geneva - The largest city
in Francophone Switzerland. This wealthy urban banking
center is home to many international agencies like the Red Cross
and the United Nations.

Kraków - The cultural
center and former capital of Poland. It is famed for its charming medieval
architecture and one of the largest old-town market squares in
Europe.

Ljubljana - The
charming capital of Slovenia. Can be seen as a "smaller, alpine
version of Prague".

Munich - The capital of
the southern German federal-state of Bavaria. This gateway to the Alps is famous for
Oktoberfest, the world's largest beer festival.

Prague - The world-famous
capital of the Czech Republic is one of Europe's most
attractive and well preserved large cities and has emerged as an
expatriate melting pot since the opening of the Iron Curtain.

Adriatic Sea - Slovenia has a relatively small, but beautiful
coastline on the north-eastern tip of the Adriatic.

Giant Mountians - Located along the Silesian-Bohemian frontier
in Poland and the Czech Republic.

Understand

While ethnically different, the countries of Central Europe
share a similar culture and history throughout the ages. Two of the
most important political units in the region were the German and
Austro-Hungarian empires. They were preceded in the Middle Ages by
the Holy Roman Empire, a patchwork of states and statelets whose
extent varied over time. Ethnic conflict was a major problem for
hundreds of years in Central Europe and culminated in the horrors
of the Second World War. With the peaceful reunification of Germany
and the recent expansion of the EU to encompass the former Warsaw
Pact states in the region, this problem finally seems to have been
solved.

It is a common mistake by outsiders to label all the former
Warsaw Pact states in the region as being in Eastern Europe. Almost uniformly, inhabitants of
Central Europe will be flattered and pleased if you correctly
describe their countries as "central European" both geographically
and culturally. Conversely, they may be upset if you lapse into
Cold War stereotypes. East and West Germany were
countries, so better to call it eastern and western Germany.
Reunification is all but a thing of the past and seen in a more or
less positive light by most there and in all of Central Europe so
try to avoid labeling Germans by their recent past. Lastly,
remember Germans are Germans but Austrians, Liechtensteiners and
most Swiss all speak German, but are not German! Polish
and Russian languages are related, but Poles will not take kindly
to assumptions of cultural overlap. Lastly, keep in mind that their
neighbors to the south in the Czech Repupblic and Slovakia once
shared a country as well and Slovaks in general are very proud of
their new found independence.

While they are not currently considered part of Central Europe,
the regions of Kaliningrad Oblast (Russia) and
Alto-Adige / South Tirol - province (Italy), are sometimes also
considered Central European. This is due either to their current
and or past ethnic makeup and or previous political histories.
Kaliningrad region spent most of its history as a German speaking
region and South Tirol remains a largely German speaking region in
northern Italy maintaining strong cultural ties to Austria.

Talk

Central Europe, because of its rich heritage of nationalities,
likewise is home to many languages. Some languages enjoy national
status and thus are taught in schools and used widely in the media.
Others however are only regional languages or minority languages
and thus are sadly in danger of eventual extinction even though
efforts are underway to try to preserve them.

German has the largest number of
native speakers in the region and acts as the single "official"
language of Austria, Germany and Liechtenstein. In Switzerland,
German is the mother tongue of 2/3 of the population and the
dominant language of the four official Swiss languages (German,
French, Italian & Romansh). There is a small German speaking
minority to be found in Poland, Czech Republic and Hungary. It is
also spoken outside Central Europe in eastern Belgium and France,
and northern Italy (mainly in the region of South Tyrol/Alto
Adige). German can be very diverse and appears in many different
colorful dialects particular in the Southern German speaking world
were tradition remains strong.

Czech
and Slovak are very closely related and
are mutually intelligible. The Sorbian language(s) spoken in
eastern Germany near the Polish frontier is also a close
relative.

Polish is the dominant language in
all regions of Poland and in a tiny border region of the Czech
Republic. Kashubian, a regional Slavonic language, is spoken in the
region around Gdansk in northern Poland. Silesian is a regional
language/dialect found in southwest Poland.

Hungarian is one of the most
difficult languages for other Europeans to learn, as it originates
from a different language family and is related to Finnish and
Estonian. There are 5 million Hungarian speakers living outside
Hungary in neighboring countries such as Romania, Serbia, Austria
and Slovakia.

French or Italian
are spoken by the majority of the population in the southern and
western regions of Switzerland, while Swiss German is commonly
taught as a second language.

In the Swiss Canton of Graubünden or Grison, Romansh is spoken
as a regional language. Almost all Romansh speakers speak either
Swiss German and or Italian as well. It is closely related to Ladin
which is spoken in a few mountain valleys of northern Italy and is
another endangered regional language.

Slovenian is the official language
of Slovenia, but it is also spoken by the Slovenian minorities in
southern Austria, northeastern Italy and western Hungary. There is
also a small Croatian
minority in Austria's Burgenland. Sorbian, Frisian and Low German
are Germany's three native minority languages with exception of
Roma. Sorbian is related to Polish and Czech and can be found
spoken in the eastern states of Saxony and Brandenburg. All Sorbs
speak German as well. Frisian is related to English and Dutch and
is spoken by tiny minority communities in Schleswig-Holstein and
Niedersachsen and neighboring communities in the Netherlands.

Lastly, Low German is spoken by rural communities or as a second
language in most federal states of northern Germany and still has a
significant role to play in the city states of Bremen, Hamburg and
Berlin and in the states of Niedersachsen, Schleswig-Holstein and
particular in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. All three German
minority languages are endangered languages. Efforts are underway
to preserve the languages and their culture but it is seemingly a
loosing battle.

Finding people who speak and understand English is not a problem
in most regions of Central Europe, especially in Switzerland,
Austria and Germany. In Poland, Slovenia, Slovakia, Hungary and the
Czech Republic, English is widely spoken in the larger cities and
by younger people; German and Russian are also spoken and
understood by many older people in these countries. Russian, since the end of the
Cold War and the unification of Europe is in steady decline. Today
German remains important, more for financial and economic reasons
instead of cultural or political reasons, as was the case in the
past. Slovenians and the Swiss by far lead the region in their
ability to speak many different tongues.

Get in

Central Europe is very well connected within Europe and with the
rest of the world. Germany, Austria and Switzerland are
particularly renowned for efficient and fast transport
infrastructures that make it possible to travel quickly to even the
smallest villages.

By plane

The largest gateway for air travel is Frankfurt Main airport in Germany, which
offers connections to all continents and to most airports in
Europe. Zurich and Vienna airports are way smaller
but provide good connections to selected destinations.

One key difference between flag carriers and discount
airlines is important to note: the airport may be some distance
from the city it serves. Flag carriers usually fly to nearby
airports, such as Frankfurt/Main, while no-frill airlines like
Ryanair fly to Frankfurt-Hahn airport, which is two hours away from
Frankfurt and actually close to Trier.

By train

Central Europe has a dense high-speed train network:

The German InterCityExpress (ICE) offers connection with all
neighboring countries

In addition, there are numerous night- and other express and
regular trains that connect Central Europe with the rest of
continental Europe, and travel as far as Istanbul or Moscow. Check the homepage of the Deutsche Bahn
[1],
which has an excellent overview of the European rail system.

By car

The motorways in Central Europe are excellent and offer fast
connections across the region. The European Union has spent vast
amounts of money to improve transport connectivity. Check
individual country pages for details of routes and suggested
itineraries.

Get around

All of the countries located in Central Europe are now signatory
to Schengen Agreement, which means that you can
cross the borders unimpededly, much as you'd cross the U.S. state borders, save for
random police checks.

Beer -The golden beer drunk throughout the
world was developed in this region, and arguably it is here that it
is still at its best. The Czech Republic has a grand brewing
heritage and Pilsen is the
place were the technique was pioneered, creating the Pilsner style
that is reproduced around the world. The low cost of beer in the
Czech Republic makes it easy to get a taste of many of the fabulous
beers, from the well known Pilsner Urquell, Budvar (Budweiser) and
Staropramen, to local favorites such as Kozel, Bernard and
Gambrinus. Many have a few different varieties and a Cerny Pivo
(Black Beer) these can be as good if not better than the standard
beer. Slovakia has many
beers of high quality with Zlaty Bazant being highly regarded. Hungary, Poland, and Slovenia all have very good national examples
sometimes on a par with those from the Czech lands. Germany, Austria and Switzerland have a similar brewing
heritage, but can throw in several different types of beer.
Weissbier, (Wheat Beer) is a refreshing style popular in summer but
drunk year round. There are a huge amount of varieties and local
specialties are nearly always worth seeking out. Generally, the
further north one travels in Germany, the more bitter or hoppy the
beer becomes adding to the north-south cultural divide. Bavaria, "the Holy Grail of
Brewing", located in southern Germany, has over 600 breweries alone
and even more accompanying beers to sample!

Wine- The region produces a wide range of
wines from superb world famous regions, down to inexpensive local
plonk. Possibly the finest region in the area is Tokaj, world-renowned for its sweet dessert wines
as well as more standard whites. Germany has several wine regions
the Rhine, and Moselle Valleys
are well known for their fragrant white wines. Saxony in the east
even is home to a small wine growing region on the riverbanks of
the Elbe. Austria and Switzerland also produce some very high
quality products. In the other countries like Hungary and Slovenia
local wines can throw up some very good varieties and it is always
worth investigating local produce.

Vodka- A Polish specialty, the quality of
Polish vodka is amongst, if not the, best in the world.
The high quality product can be very different to the industrial
stuff you may buy in your local shop and is well worth a try.
Zubrowka is a variety of vodka flavored with a cinnamon-like grass
and is delicious when combined with apple juice. Some claim it to
be so good it produces no hangover!

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Western Christendom's centuries-long confrontation with the
Oriental and Islamic empire of the Ottoman Turks also helped define
Central Europe as a cultural and historical
region.

Usage
notes

The boundaries of Central Europe are not precise, and vary with
the person discussing it. However, it can be roughly defined as
bordered on the west by France and the Low Countries, on the east
by the political boundaries of the former Soviet Union, on the
north by the Baltic Sea, and on the south by Italy and the
Adriatic.

See also

Central Europe is the region lying between the areas of Eastern and WesternEurope. In addition, Northern, Southern and Southeastern Europe mean different regions, but in some way they may or overlap into Central Europe. The term has come back into fashion since the end of the Cold War, which had divided Europe politically into East and West, with the Iron Curtain splitting "Central Europe" in half. The understanding of the concept of Central Europe varies considerably from nation to nation, and also has from time to time.